The Fiji mermaid (also Feejee mermaid) was an object composed of the torso and head of a juvenile monkey sewn to the back half of a fish. It was a common feature of sideshows where it was presented as the mummified body of a creature that was supposedly half mammal and half fish, a version of a mermaid. The original had fish scales with animal hair superimposed on its body and pendulous breasts on its chest. The mouth was wide open with its teeth bared. The right hand was against the right cheek, and the left tucked under its lower left jaw.[2] This mermaid was supposedly caught near the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific.[3] Several replicas and variations have also been made and exhibited under similar names and pretexts.[4] P. T. Barnum exhibited the original in Barnum's American Museum in New York in 1842, but it then disappeared—likely destroyed in one of the many fires that destroyed parts of Barnum's collections.[2]
- ^ "Feejee Mermaid". Peabody Museum. 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
- ^ a b Levi, Steven (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore. 36 (2): 149–158. doi:10.2307/1498966. JSTOR 1498966. Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-09-02 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Boese, Alex (2014). "The Feejee Mermaid."
- ^ Nickell, Joe (2005). Secrets of the Sideshows. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 292–293, 333–335. ISBN 9780813123585.